Bleed Through
by Garrett02
Summary: 2014 Thanos-free timeline. The multiverse is bleeding through. A/N: this story is embedded in the larger story "To Meet A Need".
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is a "companion" piece to my other story 'To Meet A Need'. If you haven't read that one (that is still a work in progress) let me set the stage a little bit. That story picks up right after Homecoming. And takes place in what I'm calling the 2014 Thanos-free timeline that was created in Endgame. The other story is going in sequential order. This story takes place at the same time as Infinity War, but keep in mind, different timeline from the movie (I know, confusing!). If you're reading the other story, it's a sneak peak of things to come.**

* * *

Orange. Dust. That's all he could see. Then he felt it. Agony. Not the type of pain he'd experienced from the wrong side of a fight, but heart wrenching, excruciating pain. He felt like he couldn't breathe. He had felt that pain before. It was what he'd felt when he thought Pepper was dead and it's what he felt when MJ had called him from the hospital. It's what he felt when he had been told that his mother was dead. He thought he had heard Peter's voice before, telling him he was sorry. Then he heard it again but it wasn't coming from his dream, it was pulling him out of his dream, _no, he corrected, this was a nightmare_. It was still Peter but it was coming from his room down the hall. Tony jerked himself awake. Scrambling up, he headed for Peter's room. Even if the whole thing had just been a dream, he still instinctively needed to make sure he was there. A cry of agony coming from Peter's room spurred him into a full run. Pushing the door open he saw Peter on the floor with his arms over his head. He had seen it a couple times before. If the kid described his senses as dialed up to 11 on a regular basis, they were somewhere around 100 right now. "FRIDAY, soundproof and blackout now."

Tony crouched next to Peter. "What can I do to help." He could hear Pete's faint mumble.

"Hurts. Everywhere."

"Ok. Focus on me. Can you hear my heartbeat?" Tony wanted to reach out and pull the boy that he had come to think of as his kid into his arms to ground him and tell him it was ok. They were both ok. He knew he couldn't, not yet.

"Too fast." The mumbled response was stronger but still muffled from behind his arms.

Yeah, no shit. That's because he was terrified. His own dream had been bad enough. Watching Peter was so much worse. "We can calm down together then." Shifting closer he reached out his hand and hovered over Peter's shoulder. "Pete, I'm going to touch your shoulder, ok?" He saw the almost imperceptible nod and he reached down and gripped Peter's shoulder. He had learned after the first time that firm pressure was much better for Peter than a lighter touch.

Peter sucked in a breath in response. He felt Tony start to pull away. "No, It's helping." He ground out the words because even though it made him feel better it was agonizing. Every molecule of his body hurt. He didn't even know how that could be but he knew without a doubt it was the right description. It had never been this bad before. He focused on Tony's heartbeat, his own was intermixed in a reassuring cacophony of sound. Slowly both heartbeats slowed to a somewhat normal pace. Tony's always had a unique sound due to the old damage that Peter found reassuring. He could always pick Tony's heartbeat out, even in a roomful of people.

"Any better?" Tony asked quietly. From past experience Tony knew that while Peter could get control of his senses relatively quickly, he'd be out of commission for at least 24 hours. The after affects were just that bad.

"Getting there."

Peter's head was still safely nestled under his arms but Tony could feel his muscles starting to relax slightly. "FRIDAY, restrict access to this floor and let Pepper know what's going on."

"Access restricted." FRIDAY paused. "Boss, the same distress you and Peter experienced was experienced by others.

Peter turned his head slightly and looked at Tony. As dark as it was in the room Peter had no problem seeing Tony's face as he questioned FRIDAY.

"FRIDAY, explain. Who else."

"All of them." The response did nothing but heighten both Peter and Tony's anxiety.


	2. Chapter 2

"Pete, do you think you can handle Pepper sitting with you for a few minutes so I can find out what's going on?"

Peter nodded. "She's on the other side of the door." He could hear her heartbeat. He tilted his head slightly because there was something slightly different but his brain wasn't working yet.

Tony stood up and opened the door letting Pepper in. She took Tony's place at Peter's side. "I'll be back in a few minutes. Let me find out what's going on." He closed the door behind him and headed for the elevator. "FRIDAY, no one but me is allowed onto the floor. Take me wherever they are."

The elevator doors opened, but the scene in front of him was not what he was expecting. Wanda was in a ball on the floor, Sam and Bucky sitting next to her, Vision crouched in front of her. Rhodey, Nat, and Steve looked shaken. That was a description he never thought he'd use to describe any of them, but definitely not those three. "What's going on?"

Steve found his voice first. "We all had a nightmare. Sounds weird saying it out loud but...". His voice drifted off, not sure how to describe what happened.

Natasha shook her head, "It felt too real to be a nightmare. It's just flashes. Some kind of huge battle. We lost. I don't know how to explain it. I'm not even sure where we were."

"Wakanda. We were in Wakanda." Bucky stood up from his position next to Wanda.

Tony rolled what they were saying around in his head. He stopped believing in coincidences a long time ago. "Steve, reach out to T'Challa. Just to check. It may be nothing."

Steve nodded. "Tony, just curious, did you have the same dream."

Tony shook his head as he headed back to the elevator. "Pete and I both had a dream but we weren't in Wakanda." He needed to check on his kid.


	3. Chapter 3

Tony eased the door open. Peter's head was at least unburied from his arms. He crouched on the floor in front of them. "Any better?"

Peter nodded. "Hurts. Broke apart, put back together."

Pepper looked at Tony. "Everything ok downstairs?"

"I don't know." Tony hated to even ask, but he felt like it was important. "Pete, was it a nightmare that sent you into sensory overload?"

Peter frowned, "Orange, dust, pain." The ability to put complete sentences together was way too much right now. His head was pounding.

Tony dropped his head. Something was definitely wrong. Bringing his head back up he patted Pepper's knee to get her attention. "Pete, let's try to get you back in bed."

Peter nodded. Pepper and Tony each took a side and pulled Peter somewhat to his feet. The kid seemed so small to Tony right now, even though he had gone through a growth spurt sometime in the last month and had bulked up a little. They got him onto the bed and in a somewhat straight position.

"Ok, is this a 'leave me alone' sensory recovery or a 'stay with me' sensory recovery?" Tony asked, hoping it was the latter. Something about the events of the night made him want to stay close to his kid.

"Stay." Peter opened one eye and looked at both adults standing next to his bed. "Both?" There was something comforting about the mix of heartbeats he could hear.

Pepper slid next to Peter and let him curl next to her while Tony walked around to the other side of the bed and pushed a pillow against the wall to lean against. Sitting down, he situated himself and relaxed, his hand automatically finding Peter's head. Carding his fingers through his curls he could feel Peter's muscles relaxing against him. It didn't matter what was going on. He was perfectly content to stay there as long as he needed to.

* * *

Tony slid his phone out of his pocket. Peter and Pepper were both asleep. Pepper curled up next to Peter protecting him from whatever would come his way. Peter was a little less elegant. He had rolled onto his side and currently had an arm thrown across Tony's knees. Sliding open a text he sent a message to Steve for an update. The reply was fairly quick. Wakanda had experienced something. No one knew what, but it seemed a lot like what they had experienced here. Another message popped up from Steve asking how Peter was doing. Tony looked down at Peter. His face was hidden by the mop of brown curls. He tapped a quick response and slid the phone back into his pocket.

* * *

Tony felt the shift of Peter's arm which jolted him back awake. He wasn't sure how long they had all been asleep, one of the perks of soundproofing and darkening Peter's room was that there was absolutely no intrusion from the outside world. Peter rolled slightly and croaked out "FRIDAY, lights at 5%".

Tony shifted to let Peter know he was awake before speaking. "How are you doing kid?"

"Better. I still hurt."

Tony swung his legs off the side of the bed and stood up so Peter wasn't trapped between him and Pepper. He could dimly make out Peter rolling fully on his back trying to work up to sitting. He finally swung his legs off the side of the bed and let gravity assist him until he was sitting shakily on the side of the bed. "I don't know why this was so much worse."

Tony leaned against the wall. "There's something else going on. Steve's been trying to get to the bottom of it."

Peter looked up. "Something else?"

Tony didn't want to load up Peter's brain with everything that had happened with Wakanda and the rest of the Avengers, at least not yet. "All I know is that you and I had the same nightmare and it sent you into the worst case of sensory overload I've seen you go through."

Peter held Tony's eyes for a moment trying to read the expression on his face. He knew there had to be more going on but Tony was being protective. He rolled his shoulders and neck and realized how much his muscles hurt. "I going to try to take a shower. That'll give you time to check on things without having to worry about hiding it from me." Peter grinned up at Tony.

Tony shook his head and smiled. "You're a brat." He leaned over so he could look Peter in the eye. "In all seriousness, do you feel up to a shower?"

Peter nodded. "FRIDAY can monitor to make sure I don't pass out." He turned and looked over his shoulder at Pepper. "Do you want to let her stay asleep? This may be the best sleep she's gotten. You probably need to change the protocol you use from Sleeping Baby to Peter's Sensory Overload."

"Ok, now I know you're feeling better. I'll move her into our room. Don't kill yourself in the shower. Have FRIDAY get me if you need me." Tony walked around the bed and scooped up Pepper who only shifted slightly. She was obviously exhausted. He needed to pay more attention to the hours she was putting in. She apparently needed a vacation. As he reached the door, Peter stopped him. "Tony, Dr. Strange was there. In the dream."

Tony paused and looked back at Peter. Now that he had mentioned it, he remembered Strange too. "I'll call him."

* * *

Tony put Pepper in bed, grabbed a cup of coffee, shot Strange a text, and headed downstairs. Everyone was still in the common area. Wanda looked better. She was curled up on the couch next to Vision. "Steve, anything new?"

"Nothing. Everything has settled down in Wakanda. How's Peter?" Steve had a tablet in his hands obviously monitoring everything he could gain access to for any kind of threat looming on the horizon.

"He's awake. In the shower trying to work some knots out of his muscles." Tony took a sip of coffee and grabbed the tablet from Steve.

"Tony, about the dream you and Peter had. If you weren't in Wakanda, where were you?"

Before Tony could respond, a familiar orange glow filled the corner of the common area. Dr. Strange stepped through. "He was on a planet called Titan."


	4. Chapter 4

The orange glow faded and Dr. Strange walked over to Tony and Steve.

Tony put down the tablet. He hadn't expected the man to materialize in the common area when he texted him earlier. "What's going on Strange?"

"Where's Peter?" Strange looked around the room, expecting to see the youngest member among the others. It was disconcerting that he wasn't there.

"He's upstairs recovering from sensory overload." Tony wasn't in the mood to put up with much right now. "Again, what's going on?"

Dr. Strange sighed, "The only phrase I can use to describe it is bleed through across the multiverse."

"The what?" Steve moved next to Tony. His tone didn't carry the same bite but his concern was just as apparent.

"The multiverse. Different realities. The nightmares we all experienced was something another universe lived." Strange looked at the faces staring at him in disbelief.

Wanda uncurled slightly from the ball she was in. "Why?"

Strange walked over to Wanda and knelt in front of her, scrutinizing her face, there was a soft red glow fading from her eyes. "I believe it has something to do with the infinity stones. It's why you were affected so badly." He turned his head and looked at Vision.

Vision tilted his head. "I too was affected."

"That doesn't explain Pete. He's not tied to an infinity stone." Tony was getting irritated. Strange hadn't given him any answers, just more questions.

"Can I see him?" Strange looked up at Tony. He knew from experience the length Tony would go to in order to protect Peter. And if Tony wasn't there, he knew Peter would be protected by the rest of them.

"FRIDAY, can you ask Peter if he's up to joining us for a few minutes?"

Everyone noticed the lights dimming slightly as FRIDAY responded. "Peter will be down momentarily."

Strange noted that the AI sounded a little protective as well. The fact that it dimmed the lights without being asked spoke volumes.

The elevator doors slid open and Peter walked out, hair wet and his softest T-shirt and sweatpants on. His head still hurt but he had already been contemplating coming downstairs when FRIDAY asked him to. Peter walked over and positioned himself next to Tony.

"Peter, how are you feeling?" Strange studied the boy, looking for signs that would point him to what had happened.

"I've felt better." Peter assumed Tony had told everyone about the sensory overload. "Do we know what's going on?"

"Apparently the multiverse is bleeding across universes?" Tony looked at Strange for more of an explanation.

"Wait, the multiverse theory is correct? They haven't been able to prove it." Peter's excitement overshadowed how bad he felt.

"They don't have the benefit of the Time Stone. The multiverse is very much real. Our counterparts in another universe faced an enemy, Thanos, who wanted to use the infinity stones to destroy half of all living things in the universe. Your counterparts did not win. What everyone experienced last night here and in Wakanda was that defeat echoing through the multiverse." Strange had never been one to mince words. He could tell his revelation had completely thrown the group gathered in the room.

"This enemy - Thanos. Is he a threat to our universe?" Tony drove straight to the offensive. He didn't take losing very well, even if it had been in another universe.

"From what I've seen, Thanos left this timeline in 2014 to battle the other timeline five years after his initial decimation." Strange could tell his explanation was not providing clarity.

"That makes no sense. Why would you leave your timeline..." Tony stopped and thought about what he was saying. If the Thanos from their own timeline left to enter a timeline five years into the future that meant that someone had the ability to time travel.

Strange watched Tony work through what he had said. The man's mind never ceased to amaze him. He locked eyes with Tony. "They made a mess."

Steve looked between Tony and Strange. "Ok, fill the rest of us in."

"Our counterparts messed with time to fix what this guy Thanos had done. It's rippling through the multiverse." Tony started pacing. He would not have approved of something like that. And there was no way he wasn't involved.

"Actually, it wasn't the time jumping itself that's causing the problems. They just created different branch timelines. That universe no longer has infinity stones. It's unstable." Strange looked around the room. In the entirety of the earth, the people in this room were probably the only ones that could comprehend what had happened.

"So what exactly are we looking at?" Steve desperately wanted to get out of the arena of science and into cold hard threats.

"We could see inter dimensional riffs or we could just have some bad dreams periodically." Strange shrugged. "It's hard to tell what kind of effect this will have. The plus side is that we shouldn't have to face the same threat the other universe did since Thanos no longer exists in our universe."

Tony looked over at Peter. "You're being really quiet about this. I somewhat expected a lot more excitement over the idea that time travel is possible."

Peter shook his head. "It's just wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff." The statement resulted in an eye roll from Tony. "What? It's a good show. Seriously though, this is a problem. You would have never agreed to help develop time travel. You know how dangerous it is. While you're completely fine risking your own life, you're absolutely against risking anyone else. Which means this got bad."

Tony smiled, his kid didn't doubt for a moment that he could develop time travel. Tony also knew Peter was thinking along the same lines he was, despite the Doctor Who quotes. He saw Strange watching them from across the room. There was more the man knew that he wasn't telling.


	5. Chapter 5

"So no current threat?"

Strange nodded to Steve's question. "Just a warning to view anything that does crop up as potentially related to these events."

"I'll go talk to T'Challa. Try to explain this." Steve left the room, most of the rest of the group trailing in his wake. It was going to be a team effort to try to explain what had happened. Vision and Wanda had left a few minutes before. The experience had drained her.

Having the room to themselves Strange knew Tony would have questions. And concerns. Strange himself was more worried about how Peter was doing. He was pretty sure Tony hadn't connected those dots yet. He was glad no one else was around to see because he knew as soon as he asked a couple questions Tony and Peter would put it together. He considered leaving it alone but his concern over the lingering effects on Peter pushed him towards the duo. "Peter, how are you feeling?"

"Like I got ripped apart, which is exactly what happened in that timeline isn't it."

Hiding his surprise at how quickly Peter had figured it out he simply nodded. Tony on the other hand was still piecing it together. Strange figured that part of his brain refused to acknowledge what had happened to the other Peter.

Peter looked at Tony. "It's why the other you agreed to help with time travel. I was part of the decimation?" He looked over at Strange for confirmation of the term and his conclusion.

Strange again nodded. "I'm curious, how did you come to that conclusion."

"Last night I remembered thinking all of my molecules hurt. It was an odd thing to think. Now that I can think a little clearer that exactly what happened to the other me." Peter frowned at the thought.

"It's very likely your healing factor fought it off for a little while at least. I think it's what made it so much worse." Strange kept the rest of it to himself. He was pretty sure Peter's spider sense would have told him he was about to die as well.

Tony's brain caught up with what Peter and Strange has said. His stomach lurched at what they had described. He thought back to his own nightmare and understood the agony he had felt. His kid had died. That single thought almost drove him into a panic attack. Peter must have heard his heart start to race because he felt Peter's hand on his shoulder. "Tell me this can't happen in this timeline." His eyes pleaded with Strange for reassurance.

"The stones exist. And because they exist this could always happen. But, the fact that we know of the possibility means we can prepare for it." Strange knew it wasn't the answer Tony was seeking but it was the only one he had. Destroying even one of the stones wasn't a solution. One unstable universe was enough. He looked over at Peter. He knew more questions were coming.

"Things seemed different in the dream. You weren't as familiar and I'm pretty sure I called Tony 'Mr. Stark', which I haven't done in a while."

Strange nodded. "There's no telling what effect Thanos leaving our timeline had. There's any number of small changes that could have taken place that rippled across our reality. My guess is one of those changes meant that there are things that the other you did not experience."

Tony spoke up, "The accident. It's how we met you." Tony looked over at Peter. Both of them knew that the accident was what brought both of them to where they were today. It was during Peter's recovery that he stopped calling Tony 'Mr. Stark'.

Strange nodded. "That's probably one of the events. Focusing on the what if's will only drive you crazy. Take this for what it is - a warning about the power of the infinity stone. We control two of them. The mind stone and the time stone. We need to make sure they're protected."


	6. Chapter 6 - Epilogue

Steve and the rest of the Avengers managed to somewhat relay what Strange has told them to T'Challa. He wasn't happy but was content to play it by ear. Natasha met with Fury about starting to implement various defenses that could combat a cosmic threat. She was surprised that he wasn't more bothered by the events. She was slightly less bothered that he already had the beginnings of a plan. Tony and Peter returned upstairs. Since no one else had slept in about 24 hours everyone was heading to bed early. Peter still had a headache and he ached everywhere but he and Tony raided the refrigerator and settled into the couch to watch a movie. Pepper joined them and the three sat comfortably on the couch eating leftovers and mindlessly watching a movie that none of them were paying attention to.

Tony looked over and saw Peter staring at Pepper halfway through the movie. "What's wrong?" After the events of the last 24 hours he didn't want to take any chances.

"You know how I can always pick your heartbeat out because of the damage?"

Tony nodded, not quite sure where Peter was going.

"Last night when I was in the middle of sensory overload there was something odd. I could hear everyone's heartbeats, mine, yours, Pepper's. But there was something different and I think I know what it was." Peter was almost giddy with excitement.

"Ok, you're starting to freak me out a little bit."

Pepper just looked at the two. They hadn't told her all of the details, she just knew they were both a little on edge and needed to stay in relative proximity. She had learned long ago to just roll with the punches with Tony. Peter just added a few more required rolls to the mix. "What?"

"There's another heart beat!" Peter looked at the two triumphantly. "I didn't pick up on what it was at first. My brain was a little jumbled and it's much quieter and a little faster than Pepper's so it took me a while to figure it out."

Pepper stared at Peter and the color drained out of her face. "What?"

Tony just looked shell shocked. His brain was well on its way to shutting down. He looked between Peter and Pepper. "Another heartbeat?"

"Yep!" Peter was thrilled. He knew Tony and Pepper would be great parents.


End file.
